Hormone Implant in Chickens

[Hockeychick]

She's so pretty, I must share her picture. Big Stink is the grey EE. Sitting next to her is Tristan, and on the right is my life partner Dora. She's going to be 13 soon! lol

 

[Grey Gables]

I just got my girl, Thyme, a hormone implant back in August. She was very swollen and lost all her feathers on her butt. The vet suspects a reproductive disease or complication (she's had reproductive infections previously). She is 18 months old.

After two months, Thyme has lost over a half pound and her swelling is noticeably down. She has also regrown all her butt feathers! She seems to have more energy and is healthier overall. She stopped laying eggs almost immediately, though I've heard every chicken reacts differently. She's doing very well on it and the vet recommended we keep getting a new implant every time she starts laying again.

I hope this helps your girl heal. Good luck!

Sorry - late to reply! This is such wonderful news about your hen.

Mine laid about 15 eggs before they finally stopped, and she seems to be good now -- although I wonder how much winter could also contribute to lack of eggs. So it will be interesting to see how often we have to do the implant during the spring/summer.

 

[Grey Gables]

My Isa Brown's 2nd implant lasted around 2 months, she is back laying egg today. I am very disappointed and if she is back to laying massive eggs 7 days a week, she will have reproductive issue again. I don't want to give her another implant as her 2nd one only last 2 months.

Yeah, I get that... they're not cheap! How long did the first one last? I guess I didn't even consider that it could vary, which may be stupid on my part! I assumed it would last about the same amount each time.

 

[Grey Gables]

I encourage my chickens to go broody, this is because I thought this will give their system a break from producing eggs. They warm up the emptied nest box, I use dog boxes to accommodate them whenever I have a few on broodiness. I just make sure I have them out 1 a day for an hour or so to eat and exercise. It lasted around 2 - 3 weeks, then I lock them out of the nest box, a week later they stopped their broodiness and it took another month for them to return to egg laying. But with my ISA Brown, she does not have broodiness in her.

This is an interesting idea! I haven't been too keen to let my girl stay broody, as it seems to be endless for her and she drops a considerable amount of weight any time I've let her go more than a few days.

 

[Grey Gables]

Good morning! I have a 5 year old EE named Big Stink. She was being picked on by the big flock and came to live with me as a house chicken 2 years ago. Stinkers lays a gorgeous blue/green egg approximately every 18 hours, and that just too many eggs, in my opinion. Stink was out of her mind at first, loud, always hot and panting, and has the stinkiest poo you can imagine. By out of her mind, it was like she was itchy or uncomfortable and wanted to escape her body. I really don't know how else to describe it.

I talked to my vet about the suprelorin implant, and Stink got her first implant about a year and a half ago. within a few days, she stopped overheating, her poop didn't smell as bad, and she calmed down a lot. The implant lasts 2 months, but I've stretched it out to 4, and no eggs in all this time. I can tell when the implant is wearing off because she gets hot and stinky again.

I don't know if the implants lose their effectiveness over time, or if Stinky has just gotten used to it, because it seems like she gets hot and stinky after just a month now.

Another side effect is that Stink seems to be constantly molting.

I've lost too many beloved birds to egg laying/reproductive issues, and I didn't want Big Stink to go through that as well. I'm glad that we took this route, and we will continue with the implants.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the implant! I will definitely be asking my vet about some of your points next time we need to get another implant. Very curious if they do lose effectiveness.

 

[Grey Gables]

She's so pretty, I must share her picture. Big Stink is the grey EE. Sitting next to her is Tristan, and on the right is my life partner Dora. She's going to be 13 soon! lolView attachment 4032304

Oh she is pretty! I love a grey chicken. They're all very cute. And 13!! Wow.

The hen I've been discussing in this thread is my oldest at 5 years old (in a few weeks). I imagine the bond is so amazing after even more time together. <3

 

[SkyAJK]

This is an interesting idea! I haven't been too keen to let my girl stay broody, as it seems to be endless for her and she drops a considerable amount of weight any time I've let her go more than a few days.

In those 3 weeks of broodiness, there is no activity except sitting all day so they do not eat much, and losing a bit of weight is not an issue. I give them varieties of food to eat by themselves, not bother by other.

My hens are generally have a decent amount of weight to start with, and personally I think a bit of weight loss is also good for them.

 

[SkyAJK]

Yeah, I get that... they're not cheap! How long did the first one last? I guess I didn't even consider that it could vary, which may be stupid on my part! I assumed it would last about the same amount each time.

Her first implant was for 6 months, it lasted 4 months.
2nd implant was for 6 months, it lasted 2 months.
I was told that how long the effectiveness is depending on the individual hen.
I read a blog it says that it lasted less then a month for their hen, but they were happy that she got that bit of time off laying egg.
I was also told that try the 1 year implant it will last longer. I have not done this as my she went broody, and has yet return egg laying. I will put her on a 1 year implant so that help her pass the egg laying age. She is 4 now.
She is an Isa Brown so she does not go broody, but my heritage flock is broody in and out so she ended up with that broodiness.

 

[SkyAJK]

She's so pretty, I must share her picture. Big Stink is the grey EE. Sitting next to her is Tristan, and on the right is my life partner Dora. She's going to be 13 soon! lolView attachment 4032304

They are so beautiful and loved.

Dora is 13! It does feels like an equivalent to human of 100 years old.

I just re-read your post about Stink, ...she looks pretty and healthy.

 

[Ccort]

My hen has been on the implant for about two years. She laid internally and it very nearly killed her. It was also a massive egg for a then still small, growing hen.

She had surgery to remove it. She gets the implant three times a year. Zero eggs.

It can be hard to find a vet who offers this. Just fyi to anyone reading so you may need to call around. The vet gives her something for pain when doing the implant as he says it can be painful. She acts like herself afterward, just a bit sleepy. We've not had any side effects.

The only tricky thing about it is knowing when to give her another implant. You want to do so before a hen shows any broody-type signs. The cost is about $200 for the implant and insertion. I live in a pricey area so Im sure it's higher here than many places.